Mall Date II
by Writer25
Summary: Joe takes Fina to the mall to buy her some new clothes and they run into Fred and Jodie who may or may not be on a date. How will Joe react to his best friend dating his great grand daughter? Kinda sequel to Boys in the Tower and Mall Date. More informative and fluffiness than plot driven
1. Chapter 1

Sunlight streamed through Joe's curtains waking him up slowly. He yawned and stretched but stayed in bed for a little while longer.

_There's nothing like waking up on a Saturday. _Joe thought smiling to himself.

Without almost any thought he reached out to caress Fina's fur, but then frowned when all he found her usually spot by his side empty.

"That's right," he mumbled sadly. "We had a fight."

It wasn't necessarily a fight per se, but he did yell at her. Again. He didn't mean to, it was just still a weird situation that he was trying to get used to and whenever Joe got frustrated he started spazzing out which equated to him yelling at her and then she would cry and which made him feel like crap. Cutting up his mom's old curtains wasn't even a big deal; his mom had actually been talking about getting rid of them. He didn't know what happened, he just panicked and flipped out on her. She ran off on him and the next thing he knew she was asking his permission to go out to some dinner with Sam.

"Oh geez," he groaned rubbing his forehead. "I'm such an idiot."

Joe got out of bed and put on some pants and a t-shirt. After breakfast he was going to try and find Fina and apologize. He had promised to be nicer to her and so far he was failing. He walked passed Anna's room and found that she was already up which was typical of her nowadays. His parents' room was empty as well which was also typical; mom ran a bunch of errands on Saturdays and his dad was on another business trip.

"Wait a minute," Joe stopped before reaching the kitchen and sniffed the air. "Is that... bacon and sausage? Anna you better not be messing with the stove."

Joe entered the kitchen and froze in the doorway in surprise. Anna was sitting at the table shoveling scrambled eggs and bacon in her mouth.

"Not me," she said with her mouth full. "Ask your girlfriend."

Anna gestured towards the stove with her fork and Joe looked and saw Fina standing over the stove flipping pancakes onto a plate already loaded with food. She turned around and smiled at him brightly.

"Good morning Joe," She said. "Since your mom left super early I took the liberty of making you and your sisters breakfast. I hope you don't mind."

"N-no," Joe said sitting down. "That's really nice of you. Thanks Fina."

"It's my pleasure." she sat a plate down in front of him.

Joe gaped at the breakfast she made in amazement. A full stack of fluffy pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. She also set down a full glass of orange juice in front of him and a bottle of syrup. Joe ate like a starving man. This breakfast had to be the most amazing meal that Joe had even eaten.

"Geez Joe," Anna scoffed. "Slow down, you're eating like a pig."

Joe swallowed. "Whatever this crap is awesome. I can't believe you made this Fina."

"I always use to cook for the Warp Wizard." Fina said moving the dirty dishes into the sink and turning on the water. "I like to cook."

"You know you're really pretty," Anna said carrying her plate over to the sink. "Almost too pretty to be Joe's girlfriend. And you cook the most amazing meals."

"She's not my girlfriend, Anna!" Joe said feeling his face turn hot. "She's just a good friend."

Fina's cheeks turned pink and she turned away smiling.

"So Fina," Anna said taking a plate from her and rinsing it off. "How long have you been dating my brother?"

"We aren't dating, Anna." Fina said with a small smile. "But I am devoted to your brother unconditionally."

Joe's eyes widen in shock and he felt the orange juice he was drinking spray out of his mouth. Fina ran over to him in concern while Anna burst out laughing. After he assured Fina that he was fine he sent Anna a special glare.

"Hey, Anna, why don't you go ahead and I dunno, play with your friends or something and I'll finish helping Fina with the dishes."

"Fine with me," Anna shrugged. "I'd be more than happy to give you two some alone time."

Joe let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and helped Fina clear the table. He glanced at her to see if Anna's teasing made her feel awkward, but she was smiling at him like nothing had happened. He sighed in relief and stood next her and helped her with the dishes.

"Sorry about Anna," He said. "She can be a bit of a pain sometimes."

Fina shrugged. "It's fine. I think she's adorable."

"What about you? Any brothers and sisters back home."

"Yeah but they're all dead."

"What!?" Joe looked at her in shock, but she looked completely calm.

"What?" Joe stared at her in absolute confusion. He had heard right hadn't he? That all of her siblings were dead. Dead as in not alive again?

"You just said that all of your brothers and sisters are dead." Joe blinked at her. "And you sound like it's no big deal."

Fina shrugged and looked at him blandly. "Well it's all part of life isn't it? You're born, you grow up, you get old, and then you die."

Joe looked her even more confused than ever. She blinked up at him and he realized that they were standing really close together. Even submerged in dishwater he could feel his palms start to sweat. Okay, he had to admit it; Fina was super pretty and it was really starting to distract him.

Suddenly Fina gasped. "Oh I get it! You're confused."

"No duh," he rolled his eyes.

"Okay," Fina said. "Guess how old I am."

"Uhhhh," Joe stared at her. "I don't see what this has to do with anything, but okay... you're either thirteen or fourteen."

"Yes," Fina giggled. "And no."

"Cheater," Joe laughed and nudged her playfully. "So what's your age got to do with anything?"

"I'm thirteen years old," Fina laughed and drained the sink. "and I have been for a few thousand years."

Joe felt his jaw drop, but then the pieces started to fall into place. Healing powers, surviving being stabbed in the chest... "Holy crap, Fina are you immortal!?"

"Kinda," Fina smiled. "You see, I grew up in a small village a long, long time ago in another world. When the last warp wizard's assistant retired I was chosen to replace her, and from then on I stopped aging. And whenever a warp wizard grows old and dies I move on to the next warp wizard."

"Oh," Joe's smile faded a little. "So... eventually I'll grow older than you and die? I mean, don't I get to be immortal too?"

"Nope."

"Oh," Joe frowned. "That sucks."

Fina shrugged. Joe looked down noticed that the front of her dress was crudely stitched up in light blue thread. He realized that was probably where San-Li had stabbed her through the chest. Joe mentally kicked himself. No wonder she was trying to cut up his mom's drapes.

"Hey Fina," He said. "As a thank you for you know, saving my life and cooking me breakfast. How about I take you to the mall and buy you some new clothes?"

"The...mall?" Fina looked a confused for a minute but then smiled brightly at him. "Oh, right. The 21st century American version of an indoor market place. Yeah that sounds fun. Shall I call Fred and Sam and invite them as well?"

"Actually," Joe smiled and glanced away. "Maybe I was kinda just hoping it'd be just the two of us."

Fina smiled and touched his hand. "I think that would be... nice."


	2. Chapter 2

Fred sat impatiently at the smoothie hut, watching the condensation drip down the side of the smoothie cup. He sighed in aggravation and checked his phone for the tenth time. She was officially twenty minutes late to meet him and he couldn't wait to hear her excuse this time. Last time it was a hair appointment, the time before that it was the fact that her nails were still wet, and the list went on and on. He tried to be patient, he really did, but if he wanted to be honest well... it kinda pissed him off. Not to mention there were a couple of cheerleaders standing over by the counter who giggling and looking at him like they were about to come over to flirt with him at any second.

He was actually considering just leaving and watching Sports Center like he planned, when he head her heals walk up behind him and smelled her perfume. He stood up and handed her the smoothie he bought her. This time she was wearing a flowing mini skirt that only went half way down her thighs and a tight top with lace sleeves. As usual she looked damn good but that wasn't quite enough to break Fred out of his bad mood.

"You're late," He practically growled. "Again."

"Oh please," Jodie rolled her eyes. "I'm not that late. Besides, you know I'm worth waiting for."

"Whatever," Fred rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand.

Jodie laughed and stepped in front of him, placing a hand on his chest. She then leaned up towards him and kissed him tenderly on the lips. He feigned indifference for a moment before eagerly returning the kiss with more force. Jodie broke away from the kiss with a small laugh.

"See," she winked at him. "Told you I was worth waiting for."

"That's because I haven't seen you in almost a month." Fred laughed and wrapped an arm possessively around her waist. "Why do you always have to make me wait for so long?"

"I told you that would be busy on an off." Jodie said flipping her hair towards the cheerleaders. "I have a lot to do with my magic training."

Fred wanted to ask her more about her magic training but she got distracted by a pair of shoes she saw in the display of one of the stores. So he had to spend the next hour or so watching her try on shoes. Not his favorite idea of a date, but it made Jodie happy so it was something he endured. Otherwise she would get all pissy with him which would cause them to fight and Fred really didn't want to deal with that messiness again and again.

"What about these?" Jodie said gesturing to the red platforms she was now wearing.

"Hot." Fred mumbled. "Just like the last ten pair you tried on."

Jodie huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "You're just saying that because you don't want to be here anymore."

"I'm saying that because you look hot in anything, babe." he said with a smirk. "So hot you might have to buy everything in the store."

Jodie blushed and her frown dissolved into a small smile. "Okay, hint taken. We can go now. Just let me grab those purple boots I saw."

"Alright," Fred sighed. "Just please hurry for the love of all that is holy."

"Two secs." Jodie flashed him a wink and a smile.

Fred groaned and waited anxiously. Sure enough an associate that had been hovering in the aisle nearby came straight over to him. She wore a skirt even shorter than Jodie's and when Fred looked over her shoulder he could see two other girls giggling near by.

"So, um," The girl giggled and twirled her red, curly hair around her finger. "My friends and I were just wondering if you worked out because you look really buff."

"Um, yeah," Fred shrugged. "I play baseball and football so I try to keep in shape."

"That's so cool!" The girl gushed. "So, um, I was just wondering if I could feel your biceps?"

A small alarm went off in the back of Fred's mind, but he didn't quite know why. She was just asking to feel his biceps. What could be wrong with that? So he just shrugged and flexed his arm for her. The girl was still giggling and feeling his arm when he heard the sound of footstep coming towards him. He looked up to see a very pissed off Jodie glaring at them.

"What the hell is going on here?" She said angrily.

"N-nothing." Fred jumped up.

Jodie gave the girl one fiery look and she and her friends made themselves sparse. She then gave him the same look and left the store, with him trailing behind. His legs were longer than hers so he caught up to her quickly but she refused to look at him. Whatever was wrong he knew he was supposed to apologize, but he honestly didn't understand what he did wrong. Same as any argument with Jodie; she was mad and he didn't know why because she never said why in the first place.

"Come on, babe," he said trying for the diplomatic route. "Whatever it it I'm sorry okay? I have no idea what I did, but I'm sorry."

"No idea what you did!?" Jodie said incredulous. "That girl was all over you back there!"

"She was just feeling my arm!" Fred said. "What's so wrong about that?"

"Well, every time I turn around I don't want to see another girl with her hands all over you." Jodie rolled her eyes. "Geez are you dense."

"That is so untrue," Fred scoffed indignantly. "There isn't always a girl with her hands all over me."

Just then two arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"Hey Fred!" A familiar voice squealed. "I thought that was you! What are you doing here."

Fred spun around and came face to face with Fina who was smiling broadly at him. Fred started to sigh in relief that it wasn't another one of the cheerleaders, but he happened to glance at Jodie's face. They had only been dating for a year and maybe Fred wasn't the brightest guy, but he could read his girlfriends mood pretty well. And right now, well... let's just say that Jodie was glaring at them both like she couldn't decide who to kill first.


	3. Chapter 3

"F-fina!" Fred stammered quickly unwinding her arms from around his waist. "H-hey! What are you doing here?"

"Joe's taking me out shopping." She smiled brightly at him and then looked at Jodie. "Oh! Are you on a date?"

"Joe's here?" Fred asked feeling his stomach drop. "As in, right now?"

Oh, crap this was not good. Fred hadn't _exactly _told Joe that he was dating his great grand daughter. It didn't matter that they hadn't talked since the showdown, Joe was still going to be pissed. Fred glanced towards Jodie to see her reaction and she looked just as nervous as he felt. Sure enough when Joe finally caught up to Fina he glanced at Fred and Jodie and frowned.

"Hey Joe." Jodie said quietly.

"Jodie?" Joe frowned in confusion. "What are you doing here? And with Fred?"

"Well um..." Jodie bit her lip and looked away. "We were kinda just... hanging out."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Hanging out?"

Jodie fell silent and nudged Fred impatiently.

"Right um," Fred rubbed the back of his neck. "We're kinda sort of... on a date."

"A date?" Joe asked sharply. "You're on a freakin' date with my great grand daughter!?"

Fred took a step back and saw Jodie shoot him a glare. Great, that probably meant she was irritated at him for some reason. Like it was Fred's fault that Joe had become stubborn and was unwilling to forgive them so easily. Fina though gave a slight gasp and smiled.

"You should hang out with us!" She said brightly. "We could make this a double date!"

Joe snapped his head toward her angrily, but Fina was unfazed. Still smiling she tugged on Joe's arm until he leaned down so she could whisper something in his ear. At first Joe just shook his head and gestured angrily towards the two of them. But Fina giggled and whispered something else to him. Whatever she said worked because Joe's hard look softened and he gave her a small smile. He leaned his forehead against hers and mouthed the words "thank you". Fred didn't know why but he felt his stomach clench. He cleared his throat awkwardly and they jumped apart blushing lightly.

Joe then sighed and smiled at Jodie. "Fina and I were just about to head over to that dress boutique over there. Do you and Fred wanna come with us?"

"Sure," Jodie smiled. "That sounds great."

"So," Joe said a bit awkwardly as they felt into step with each other. "I haven't seen any of you guys in years. How have you been?"

"We've been great." Jodie beamed. "Samantha's still trying to fix that stupid cat of hers and Freddi's recently gotten into aviation and animals. As for me I'm just dabbling in fashion and magic training. What about you?"

"Nothing much," Joe shrugged. "Fina, um... 'found' me recently. Calls herself a warp wizard's assistant."

"You're using The Book again," Jodie smiled. "That's good."

Joe shrugged and Fred felt himself tense. He really, really hoped Jodie wouldn't say anything to pissed off Joe or irritate him in any way. He already knew that as soon as Fina wasn't around he was going to get an earful for sneaking around with Jodie for so long. Sure enough once they entered the dress store and the girls were distracted by the clothes, Joe wrapped his arm around Fred's shoulders in a not too friendly way.

He was smiling at him but Fred could still see a little bit of anger in his eyes. "Let's talk."


	4. Chapter 4

Jodie stood just outside of the changing room and watched Joe step outside the store to talk to Fred. She knew he wouldn't be happy with them dating. Joe was the protective type, not to mention that they were breaking so many rules in the first place. To be honest though? Jodie herself couldn't believe that she was dating Fred. The truth was that when she first met with him she really did want to just find a way to reconcile with Joe. When she did see him though something inside her sparked up and the next thing she knew they were dating.

Whatever Joe was saying to him, Fred looked like he was defending himself pretty avidly. She just wished Fred had told Joe sooner so he wouldn't feel like they we sneaking around. As a matter of fact, it kinda irritated her.

"Um, Jodie does this look okay?" Fina asked her cracking the door open a little.

Jodie eyed her. "It's cute but a little plain. Here try this belt."

She handed her a thin leather belt and Fina tied it around her waist. Her lithe figure instantly gained a waist and even accentuated her bust. Jodie mentally patted her self on the back. Man she was good. Obviously Joe thought so because his eyes lit up when he and Fred walked back into store.

"Wow." Joe breathed. "Fina, you look great."

"Do you really like it?" Fina did a little twirl. "The belt was Jodie's idea."

"Yeah it looks really cute on you." Joe smiled. "Do you want me to buy it for you?"

"Are you sure?" Fina raised an eyebrow. "You've been spending an awful lot on me today."

Joe shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine. Come on, let's ring this up so I can treat you to some ice cream."

Jodie couldn't help but smile. They made a cute couple and she hadn't seen Joe smile like that in ages. Her own smile grew when she felt Fred drape his muscular arm around her shoulders. Goodness he had grown into an incredibly good looking guy. Not that she was shallow or anything but it was nice to have a hot boyfriend.

"So," She prompted. "What did Joe say?"

"Well he seemed a little surprised and he was kinda mad that we didn't tell him first," Fred shrugged. "But other than that he seemed cool with us. What do you think of Fina?"

"What?" The question completely caught her off guard.

"Fina," Fred repeated. "What do you think of her and the whole warp wizard assistant thing?"

Oh. He was just worried about his friend. Jodie shrugged. "She seems nice. How long have they been dating?"

Fred's jaw tensed and something flashed in his eyes that she couldn't quite read. He flashed her a smile though and she felt her heart flutter in her chest. Fred really did have an amazing smile.

"They aren't really a couple." Fred said. "At least that's what Joe says. I'm pretty sure he likes her though."

"And she seems to like him..." Jodie prompted.

"Like she says," He shrugged his expression becoming unreadable. "She's here to serve him."

Joe and Fina finally finished at the register and the four of them headed to the food court. Joe ordered a plain bowl of vanilla for himself but an extravagant sundae for Fina. At first she refused to let Joe spend that much money on her, but when Fred offered to share with her she relented. Jodie didn't like to pig out in front of Fred so she just ordered a small strawberry sundae.

"So Jodie," Fina said licking chocolate sauce off her spoon. "How long have you and Fred been dating?"

"About 8 months." Jodie shrugged while Fred just looked blank. "Right sweetheart?"

"Uh-huh." Fred nodded shoveling ice cream into his mouth. "Right. Whatever you say babe."

"So Fred," Joe asked with a small smirk. "What was your first date like?"

"The mall."

"The movies."

Jodie and Fred looked at each other and she frowned.

"No sweetie," She said trying to hold on to her patience. "Our first date was the movies remember?"

"Actually babe," Fred narrowed his eyes a little. "It was at the mall remember?

"No the movies, you asked me to the movies."

"True but I asked you to the movies while we were hanging out together at the mall."

"But that wasn't a date," Jodie insisted. "I wanted to meet you so I could catch up with you because I hadn't seen you for so long."

"Yeah right," Fred rolled his eyes. "More like you were trying to find out if Joe was upset that Uncle Joe was giving you magic lessons."

There was a loud clank as the spoon dropped from Jodie's hand. She turned to look at Fred slowly feeling her face grow hot with anger and embarrassment. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? She had told him that in confidence not so that he could tell Joe. As a matter of fact she specifically asked him not to mention anything to Joe because she knew he was still angry at him and blamed him for the whole showdown fiasco.

"So," Joe said surprisingly calm. "Uncle Joe is finally giving you magic lessons. That's cool."

Well that was unexpected.

"Yeah," Jodie blinked. "It's going pretty well."

"Yeah those lessons would probably come in handy if say you were about to face some ultimate showdown with an evil uncle."

Yeah, that reaction was a little more expected. Jodie smiled and reached out to pat his hand sympathetically, but he pulled away.

"Those lessons would probably have been even more helpful," Joe said looking straight at her. "If you knew that your great grand niece would have almost been killed in said showdown."

Okay that was not expected. And kinda hurtful. She waited for Fred to defend her, but he just sank lower into his seat and looked uncomfortable.

"Joe," Fina spoke up sharply. "That isn't fair and you know it."

Joe only huffed and looked away.

"No Fina it's fine," Jodie stood up feeling her own temper rise. "This double date thing was a mistake. Trying to reconcile with Joe was an even bigger mistake."

"And by the way Joe," She said and waited for Joe to look at her again. "It wasn't my fault that you were too lazy to just read The Book yourself."

"Jodie!" Fred's jaw dropped. "That was totally uncalled for."

"Oh so now you're on his side and not mine!?" Jodie seethed in anger. "You seemed to take a totally different point of view when we were making out in your room two months ago!"

Fred turned bright red and she could feel her own face heat up with embarrassment. Joe though had the strongest reaction and leapt up from the table.

"You did what!?" He clenched his teeth in fury. "With my great grand daughter!?"

"Don't try to defend me now, Joe. You have no right."

"You're right I don't even know why I care anymore!"

"Fine I don't care about you either!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Alright!" Fina yelled suddenly making both of them fall silent. "Both of you sit down now!"

Jodie and Joe both glared at each other for a moment longer but they couldn't help but obey her.

"Now," Fina said taking a deep breath. "Like it or not the past is past and you two are family. Now Fred and I are going to go to that cute little pet store that was next to the shoe store so you two can talk this out like adults. When we come back you two are going to be friends again."

Joe started to protest but Fina gave him a look that shut him down instantly. Fina then stood up and gestured for Fred to come with her. Without even a backward glance at Jodie he jumped up and followed her like a puppy making Jodie frown. She made a mental note to talk to him about that later, but for right now, she had to deal with her great grand father.


	5. Chapter 5

Joe could feel the blood pounding in his ears as he sat fuming at the table across from Jodie. He heard her let out an angry breath but refused to look at her. Instead he watched Fina walk away with Fred. He was honestly surprised that Fina was so adamant about him and Jodie making up. She was here to serve him right? Not run his life. So it was none of her business- no, he wasn't going down that route. He wasn't going to take his frustration out on Fina... like he just did on Jodie.

He ran a hand over his face. He had to be the world's biggest jerk right now. Jodie did nothing wrong, he should have read The Book more often. Hell, she had even tried to teach him some things. When he turned to her to apologize he was shock to see tears brimming in her eyes.

"Oh geez Jodie," Joe groaned handing her a napkin. "I'm so so sorry. I should not have said what I said."

Jodie sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "I know it had to be rough. I heard Anna was hurt pretty badly and I should have been there."

"No you shouldn't have." Joe said adamantly. "Anna wouldn't have been there either if I had been a better brother and protected her."

"That's not your fault either." Jodie insisted. "Anna is her own person and she's a strong minded girl. She was going to mess with The Book no matter what happened."

"But if I had kept a better eye on her then-"

"Mad Jack was an evil, insane, lunatic!" Jodie said angrily hitting the table. "_He _was the one who kidnapped Anna and tried to hold her ransom for The Book. _You're _the one who went after him to try to save her and finally put a stop to him once and for all!"

Joe's jaw dropped and he felt tears sting his own eyes. He had had so many doubts about whether or not he did the right thing. It was nice to hear that he did. He turned his head and brushed the tears away hastily before Jodie could see. He choked out a thank you and she patted his arm comfortingly.

"I miss you." She said quietly. "I miss warping with you and arguing with you and trying to teach you and Anna how to use The Book."

"You sure show it in a funny way," Joe said turning back to her with a smirk. "Dating Fred? Really?"

Jodie turned bright pink and it was her turn to look away embarrassed. "Shut up! It just happened alright? It's not like I planned it or anything!"

"Riiight," Joe drawled out rolling his eyes. "You know, Sam always did tell me you two acted weird when you guys warped together."

"Cht, as if," Jodie folded her arms. "He was such a dweeb back then. He's so lucky he became such a hottie."

Joe felt his smirk dropped and a disgusted chill ran through him as he the image of them making out in Fred's room flashed through his brain. Jodie seemed to know what he was thinking because she flushed an even deeper shade of pink and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh geez," she groaned. "I can't believe I said that in front of everyone."

"Yeah, me neither." Joe shuddered again and stood up. "Come on, let's go find Fred and Fina before you tell me more about your love life."

They walked close together and Joe felt incredibly happy. It felt like a weight was lifted off of his chest. He hadn't messed with magic in a long time and he wondered if it would be hard to pick back up right away. He also wondered if Anna would try messing with it again.

"Hey Jodie..."

"Hmmm?"

"What about Anna?"

Jodie glanced up at him. "I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet. What about her?"

"Well," Joe shrugged and bit the inside of his cheek. "Do you think she'll want to get involved in magic again. Maybe you could start teaching her how to time travel? She's a year older than I was when I started."

Jodie pressed her lips together and avoided his eyes. "Uh, I dunno. Maybe you could ask her? Like I said, I haven't actually had to a chance to talk to her yet."

Joe narrowed his eyes. He knew Jodie pretty well and she was acting mighty sketchy.

"Jodie, do you know something I don't."

Jodie shook her head but wrung her hands together and walked a little faster. With a frustrated sigh Joe grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

"Okay, okay!" She threw her hands up in defeat. "Look, I had nothing to do with this myself, but Uncle Joe told me that he had wrote to Anna asking if she would consider a magic tutor and apparently she wrote him back and said yes. So he's supposed to be setting her up with one soon."

Joe's jaw dropped and he felt his grip tighten on her shoulders. When she winced in pain he forced himself to relax and took a deep breath.

"I wish she had talked to me first." He mumbled dropping his hands.

"Would you have said yes?" Jodie looped her arm through his and started walking again.

"Probably not." Joe conceded. "So who'd he get? Another warper?"

"Dunno," Jodie shrugged.

They walked into the pet store and saw a lot of people gathered around a corner of the store smiling and taking pictures and videos on their phones. Joe and Jodie pushed through the crowd to see what was going on. Fred and Fina were in one of those stalls where you could play with the pets while an attendant watched. About five or six puppies had Fred pretty much pinned down and were crawling all over him and licking his face. Fina was sitting next to him with three or four puppies of her own and they were both laughing like crazy.

An attendant noticed them watching and smiled at them. "The puppies went crazy as soon as they walked in. It's usually against our policy to let customers play with so many at once, but we made an exception. Aren't they such a cute couple?"

Jodie's smile dropped instantly and Joe cringed. Fred looked up and noticed Jodie glaring down at him and jumped up abashed. They crowd made a noise of disappointment and disbursed while the attendants gathered up the puppies who were now whining sadly. Fina jumped up happily and grabbed both of Joe's hands.

"Can we get a puppy?" She pleaded. "Please, please, pleeeeease?"

Joe laughed and laced his fingers through hers. "Why would we get a puppy when we already have a cat, remember?"

"Oh." Fina pouted getting the hint.

"Hey, babe." Fred kissed Jodie's cheek. "Glad to see you and Joe finally made up."

"Mmhm," Jodie smiled. "Glad to see you were having such good time with Fina."

Fred sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Please don't start, okay?"

"Start what?" Jodie blinked innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Fina frowned and looked between the two of them. "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong. It was my idea to play with the puppies, not Fred."

"No," Joe said wrapping an arm protectively around her waist. "You didn't anything wrong. _Right, Jodie?_"

Jodie sighed and looked away. "No. Of course not."

"Come on," Fred said draping an arm across her shoulders. "Let's go back to my place and watch a movie together."

"That sounds nice." Jodie smiled up at him.

She moved away from Fred though and wrapped her arms tightly around Joe's waist and he hugged her back eagerly.

"Promise we'll keep better in touch from now on?" she asked.

"Promise." Joe squeezed her tightly before letting her go.

He watched as she bounded back to Fred's side and the two left with their hands in each others' back pockets. His smile fell and he felt another shudder go through him. That was definitely going to take some getting used to. He took the shopping bags from Fina in one hand and offered her his other hand.

"Let's get back home." He said with a small smile. "I have a little bit of reading to do."

Fina smiled at him brightly and for the briefest moment Joe felt the incredible urge to kiss her. His cheeks flamed at the thought and he looked away feeling both embarrassed and ashamed for chickening out.

"Joe?" Fina looked at him. "Are you okay."

"Yeah," Joe coughed and pulled her out of the store. "Yeah I'm alright."

_Are you sure? _She asked in his head.

Joe jumped and looked at her. "Okay, you have _got _to teach me how to do that."

"Maybe one day," Fina smiled at him. "You have a lot of work to do before you're ready for that."

"Fine." Joe pouted.

**A/N- Well this story is done but be sure to see Jodie in a lot more of my upcoming stories. Also, my next story picks up a lot and you'll see what happens when Fred and Sam accidentally warp themselves on board the Titanic and come across a certain time thief**


End file.
